A trial has begun in Pau regarding a train collision that occurred in Denguin, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in 2014, resulting in 36 people being injured. The French national railway company, SNCF, and its subsidiary SNCF Réseau, which manages the railway line, will face a criminal court starting Monday on charges of "unintentional injuries." The collision took place on July 17, 2014, when a regional train traveling from Dax toward Tarbes collided with a TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, or high-speed train) at a speed of 95 km/h. The accident happened because a signal turned green, allowing the regional train to proceed when it should have remained stopped. The regional train’s driver saw the rear of the TGV 350 meters ahead, coming out of a curve, and immediately activated the emergency braking system. However, the collision could not be avoided. A final report from the Bureau of Investigation into Land Transport Accidents (BEA-TT) identified the primary cause as a malfunction in the signaling system, which was attributed to the presence of rodents in the cabinets housing the electrical equipment. Exposed wires caused by the rodents came into contact, resulting in the signal turning green. The report concluded that maintenance operations had "not sufficiently taken into account the damage that could be caused by rodents to the cables of the signaling booths." After ten years of investigation, SNCF and SNCF Réseau were referred to the criminal court in 2024 for failing to "deploy enough resources" to address the rodent risk. The trial, which will last until Friday, October 9, involves entities that have changed their names since 2014. Following the accident, SNCF conducted a major inspection and restoration campaign of the signaling equipment, discovering that 36% of the installations showed signs of rodent activity, and in 5% of cases, wires were damaged. Philippe Valent, representing SNCF, stated that the debates will be "very technical," focusing on what could have caused the green light in question. In total, 228 passengers, 178 of whom were on the TGV, were on board the two trains. One person was seriously injured, requiring six months of work incapacity (ITT), while the other 35 had only minor injuries. Settlement agreements have been reached between some victims and SNCF for compensation. This accident, being tried twelve years after the event, has been described by Gérard Chemla, who will represent the National Federation of Victims of Attacks and Collective Accidents, as part of the "cases extremely poorly handled by the justice," coming to the hearing at a time when it "no longer has meaning." However, Chemla insists on the need to show "perseverance," noting that "it is too simple to say that it no longer has interest when you have been waiting so long."